How to set up a new hedgehog house in your garden | Hedgehog's Hollow
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2020
- Welcome to Hedgehog's Hollow : the land at the bottom of the Garden
How should you set up a new hedgehog house in your garden?
In this video, I show you how to set up and prepare a new hedgehog house, what to fill with and how to make it ready and attractive for your new visitor. Finally, I will show you where to place it in your garden to make it most inviting for hedgehogs to enjoy.
The hedgehog house I am putting in my garden was purchased from my local hedgehog rescue, which is Brockworth Hedgehog Rescue.
You can find out more about them by visiting their Facebook page at:
/ brockworthhedgehogrescue
Follow this link to see my recommended kit options for recording hedgehogs in your garden:
kit.co/HedgehogsHollow/hedgeh...
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I will be setting up a couple of hedgehog houses in my garden this weekend
Really helpful! We have just bought a house and will now buy some hay. Many thanks!
That's excellent - I hope that you will very soon have a resident too!
I used a surplus bird house and turned that into a hedgehog house using the principles in your video. Fingers crossed we get some visitors now
Made one from wood I had, pallets etc, for my granddaughters 3rd birthday. She lives in a town but they have hedgehogs, she loves wildlife and comes to my rural garden to explore.
That's fantastic!
It is so great to be able to share these types of experiences and garden visitors with family - especially if they don't get to enjoy them for whatever reason.
Really helpful advice about putting hay around the outside and plastic over the top, thank you very much.
Hi Michelle,
I’m glad you found the information useful. I didn’t do so with the sloped roof house, but if you have a flat roof house, consider putting a twig between the roof and plastic itself, as I found initially that there was condensation build up . But once I lifted it just a few millimetres, the air could flow between the wood and plastic. This has been really useful as my initial house is still in great condition after a couple of year’s use.
Thanks for taking the time to drop a comment.
I’ve recently spotted a lovely big hedgehog sharing the food I have been leaving out for the foxes. I have now purchased a hedgehog house and have put some hay inside it along with a bowl of cat biscuits. I have installed a little camera to monitor the comings and goings. So far, a family of little mice are visiting nightly, but I have not yet seen the hedgehog.
Hi Damon,
Thanks for leaving a comment.
Don't worry, at the moment your visitor may just know of your garden as a stop off point for food, and not yet have associated it with a place to also take a nap, or build a home.
Have patience though, as I am sure it won't be very long at all before your visitor becomes slightly more permanent and takes up residence in your accommodation
Thank you. I used to keep chickens before I moved house and was advised that hay goes mouldy fast, whereas straw is not so susceptible. Maybe hedgehogs will choose their own favourite bedding for the house eventually - perhaps dead leaves, which I intentionally leave in my garden. Too tidy a garden is their enemy.
Most interesting and useful video. Thanks for the advice and info. However, I did find the music rather loud znd intrusive.
We give up our patio each year from October through to the spring and set up three houses with food and water ready for tenants. We have 🦔🦔🦔🦔 staying already. We have two cameras filming clips each night and absolutely love doing this each year. Thank you for your interesting clips. We’ve learnt a lot from you.
Hello Carole, thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I am sure that like me you are finding the tracking of the hedgehogs both fascinating and addictive.
I also have three houses, though currently only 1 is occupied. I usually get more tenants after hibernation strangely, so we will see how it turns out this time around. I am pleased you have found the videos useful and helpful.
Hi Mike
I have built a new house this year that was occupied two days after it was place in position I made it from old scaffold boards . I do have three house's , our garden is very small but the Hedgehog's do have access to three other gardens,
I do plan to upgrade one and make a new one for the front garden, the feeding station I made from paving blocks the ones the are used for driveways and works very well. thanks once again for video .
Thanks Mike for sharing this very informative video. In the earlier part of November I noticed two, possibly even three hedghogs in my back garden, put out a good quality proprietary hedgehog food and installed a house. I don't know if it is occupied now (will leave well alone), but will monitor things in the coming months.
@@houseofharmony7307 I hope you have a sleeping resident that you will get to see in the spring!
Please can I ask a question? I have a patio and am confused how to make it hedgehog friendly. Thank you in advance!
Really helpful video I have just built my own hedgehog house now that we have discovered we have one. I planed out the size for where it had to go and went to my local wood yard who very kindly cut the pieces to the sizes i wanted at no extra cost even cut the slopes angles for the roof. It's really nice and strong and the hedgehog has entered immediately to find his food i hope he stays for the winter.
Hi, I've been subscribed to your channel for a while and I am on your news letter list, I appreciate the time and effort you must have put into creating this channel. I have hogs in my garden and film them every night and upload to you tube, it can take ages editing the video's. Your very informative and I love watching your videos, you have a very calming voice, maybe you could get work narrating wildlife films for the BBC, Any way, keep up the good work
Thank you for your very kind comments. They are very much appreciated.
I am really pleased that you enjoy the videos, and I am sure that your hedgehog footage must bring you a lot of joy too!
Great advice and very informative. I have just made our second hedgehog house and put a small camera in there ready to watch a new inhabitant in the spring (fingers crossed). We believe we currently have two hibernating in the first box which is rare. We watched them both (on an external camera) going in and out making there nest from hay we left out and no activity since! One was a lot smaller than the other so we think it may be a mother and child.
Really wanted to buy a thermal imaging detector to make sure, but they are too expensive!
You are not the only one to have seriously considered a thermal camera to try to find hedgehogs (and other wildlife) in the garden. I too was put off by the very expensive price tag they tend to have.
The interesting thing about hibernation though is the degree to which hedgehogs reduce their body temperature, to such a degree I did wonder whether they'd even be visible on thermal cameras.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment
@@HedgehogsHollow that's very true so it maybe wouldn't show anything in the box given the similar body/outdoor temperatures. Good point!
Just found your channel so watched back some of your other videos for more info. Keep up the good work 👍
@@HedgehogsHollow just for info after the first frost, the roof started to defrost in the corner where they would have likely been sleeping. This hasn't happened with further frosts, which suggests their body temps have lowered and adjusted to hibernate. It's been very cold so I'm doubting they both left but who knows!
Hi,
A hedgehog has been visiting our garden since the summer, attracted by the bird bath water. I started to feed it hedgehog dry food which she eats every night in a feeder station my partner made. I bought a house and put it in the corner of the garden next to some flower pots and under the bay tree. She's started taking in leaves and I am placing some hay around it later as per your video. I don't want to disturb her in the day while she is sleeping but have to water the 2 plant pots every morning. I sneak up with the hose and do it as quickly as possible. Will this upset or disturb her so much that she will leave.
We love having her around and am trying hard to keep her safe and well.
Your videos have been so helpful.
Thanks and I look forward to a reply.
So I've built my own little house for the many hedgehogs that normally Iive under my shed in the winter and I'm not sure if I should leave food inside?
Quick question, should the house be placed facing North or south etc? Thank you
Our neighbours and landlord refuse to let us leave the leaves piled up outside so I'm gonna put some really petty houses in the garden c:
Hopefully your hedgehogs find some leaves to build a comfy home. Even if you leave the fallen leaves a few days before tidying, that might be enough for them to collect
When I put my hedgehog home under a hedge in my garden, I intend to place it on an old paving slab to prevent it getting damp. Of course the home will already have four corner pieces of wood under its base. No one has mentioned using a stone slab to my knowledge, so I’m concerned there may be a reason for not doing so.
Hi John,
I don't think there's any particular reason not to place the house on a paving slab.
I think the main end goal for whatever means you use is to ensure the base of the house doesn't get damp and to provide the hedgehog as safe and friendly a home as possible. I think mostly people might achieve this by simply raising the house off the ground by an inch or so, so that it isn't resting directly on the ground. The paving slab may well provide the same solution, so I am not sure that there's any issue in deploying such a plan.
I live on a modern estate an I have had lots of hogs in my garden iv just brought another box I put hay in an sometimes I look inside an they are asleep,I’m hoping to get another to live in during the winter ,does wet leaves harm the house or the bedding or don’t they mind it wet ,I will leave some leaves out an around the boxes .
I've seen hedgehogs taking bedding into a house during all kinds of weather.
It's important to allow some air to at least flow through or around the house to allow moisture and wet leaves to dry and clear. Generally when I've cleaned a house it's been full of dried out material, so with good ventilation, the bedding can dry and be very useful for hedgehogs.
We have had hedgehogs visiting our garden for quite a few years but only recently put out a feeding station which gets at least one visit each night. We also have a hedgehog house and have placed it a few metres around a corner, away from the feeding station. Should we lay a trail of food towards the house in order to attract the hedgehog or just leave the hedgehog to discover it unaided? How far from the feeding station would you suggest as an ideal position for the hedgehog house? Thank you for this channel which I have just discovered 👍🏻
Fantastic to hear of your feeding station and the hedgehog house.
Generally I would say there's no need to leave a food trail, the hedgehog is very likely to find the house itself through natural curiosity and exploration.
As far as separating them, they don't need to be that far separate. I had a feeding station literally a metre or so away and it wasn't a problem though some degree of separation is always welcome. No one likes to sleep in the dining room.
It sounds like what you have is perfect, and I hope by now the hedgehog found the house you have.
I’ve been told that the sspca will remove T from my garden if I tell them I have one. Is this true?
What do you feed your hedgehogs on
Hello. I've built house for hedgehog. I've got camera outside and one inside. I did not expect hedgehog to find it so quick but it did. He went in side made his bed and sleeped inside. (1) I've noticed he would come out of nest and stay in house then go back to bed during day. Is this normal. (2) he disappeared then another one used it. (3) now I'm finding none are using house. Is this common practice.
It's not normal for hedgehogs to be out during the day. There are exceptions, but generally that only applies to a mother with young, so generally a hedgehog out during the day is not a good sign. But if you're seeing the hedgehog out during the night and returning during the day to sleep, then yes, that is completely normal.
And yes - hedgehogs are not long term tenants - they do change quite often, meaning that some times you have a hedgehog house standing empty.
But be patient, they will return. Be sure to be providing food and water - that will make your garden more attractive and they will more regularly return, though still may not live in the house.
Please can you recommend a night vision camera. We have bought two camo coloured ones and neither of them work.
Hello Nina,
I can only recommend the camera I use myself, which is an Apeman H45 - I have three of them.
I put together a video about it here: ruclips.net/video/gH9lP42TPCM/видео.html
That particular model is quite old now, and may no longer be available in which case you may find this video useful about choosing a camera - or at least look at the variety of links in the description which might indicate various available options: ruclips.net/video/163l8CtYb3U/видео.html
Hi, I setup my first hedgehog house end of last year and had an occupant. I, also, put hay around but with the bad weather the extra hay put around and tucked under the house became sodden. Should I remove the wet hay? Any new hay put down will also get soaked, what is your advice, please?
Hi Lyn,
I completely understand the concern. You can replace the hay and provide dry material yes. However, I have noticed that even with wet bedding material, the inside of the house does actually end up dry and doesn't necessarily harm the hedgehog at all. If it wasn't for your hay, they'd be bringing in wet leaves and other material, so your wet hay isn't specifically an issue, as they'd collect wet bedding anyway.
But if you are able, providing dry bedding would be great for them
hi
just purchased a hedgehog house and i’ve put shredded paper inside ( small amount ) would that be ok, i’ve watch all your videos and fine them very helpful full. thank you. liza
Thank you so much for leaving a message.
Yes,. that would be absolutely fine.
But make sure that there is other natural material available - like leaves or hay or straw that they can gather for themselves.
Now as the leaves start to fall, try to leave them near the house and the hedgehog will fill the living space for themselves quite quickly.
Hi . I put a hedgehog house, in my garden on sunday evening, with a lot of hay inside , and som on the outside.Early this morning 4.30 am I was in the garden, befor going to work and I saw a small hedgehog going in to the house. So nice. my son in law, has made the house. That we saw in one of your videoes..And I have also put som plastic on the roof and the sides.. But I am surprised, that the hedgehog , has accepted the house so quickly. Is that normal?
That's absolutely brilliant, Christina.
Yes, it can literally be the same evening that a hedgehog will go into the house.
It may not stay immediately though - very often hedgehogs will stop for a nap during the night before moving on, and I have had that many times in the garden. My new house got used very often for mid-evening naps before it was properly adopted as a house for sleeping through the day.
SO don't be discouraged if you find that they merely snooze and move on, the fact they use it is the positive sign and means they will very likely adopt it as a sleeping house - either now, or in the future.
@@HedgehogsHollow Thank you. Last year I started feeding Hedgehogs . I´have made a place with bricks, and af roof. Only nly hedgehogs , are able to go inside. This year, it is the same.I have a camera, and I can see, the hedgehog is eating every evening and night. It somes by twice. I will try to point th camera, at the house, to see, if it sleeps there.I can see on the hay, that it usees the house.
Hi, I have hedgehogs visit my garden to feed but want to set up a house this year, I always thought only one was recommended per garden but I see you have more, if I was to do 2 would you recommend putting them in same area or totally diff locations within the garden
Hi Mandy, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
That's a great question and I'm not sure there appears to be a categoric answer.
I have three houses in the garden right now - two which are very close to each other and one a little further away. Over the course of the last 2 and a bit years I've had combinations - houses much further apart and houses much closer together, or next to each other, and I personally have not noticed any particular preference being shown from the hedgehogs.
I'd say the siting of the hedgehog house in a quiet area of the garden, perhaps under some shrubbery or other growth it prefered, but whether you place individual houses together or apart, as far as I can tell on my experience, hasn't been a concern to my hedgehogs.
@@HedgehogsHollow great tnks for reply, I had read before that they are solitary animals but I'm seeing evidence elsewhere online too to suggest they adapt with conditions on offer. I'll start with one anyway + go from there, hopefully one will take up full time residence. They seem to like my garden to feed anyway so that's a good start. I found a wee chap in my area just b4 Xmas out during the day + underweight, again conflicting opinions on weight / hibernating etc, so I brought him to a rescue just to give him a better chance but hopefully I'll be more prepared to help in the future
It sounds like you're doing a great job for the hedgehogs.
Hopefully, in the Spring, you will get a number of visitors who decide to take up residency in your garden
@@HedgehogsHollow
Just came back to report that I got 1 hog cabin built so far + placed it in my garden in June, delighted to report that almost straight away a hedgehog took a liking to it + seems to be a full time resident ♥️. Tnk you for all your tips, must get working on a 2nd one soon 😀
@@amandalyncooke That really is so brilliant to hear.
Would you put food inside to attract them initially? Where would you ideally position them in the garden?
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I wouldn't put food inside the house itself, unless you were intending that house to only serve as a feeding station, and not a nesting box.
Hedgehogs prefer to have their food and their sleeping quarters separate, so it's best to keep food outside a hedgehog house.
Hedgehogs are generally very good at finding the houses you leave for them, but if you want to encourage them in, then perhaps leave a layer of hay or straw in the house, but only about 5cm thick (2 inches) and then leave lots of bedding in the area that they can collect - either more hay or straw, or leaves will do the job, and they will collect it up and fill the house to their desire.
I hope that's helpful
My garden foxes seem to eat all the food, so I am having to put my food for the hedgehog in the hedgehog house
I thought the hedgehog house wasn't supposed to have a bottom